My name is Kevin Alex Niemi and i may be one of few to have seen this so please get back to me if anybody hears of any other wittiness.

Can’t party yet, guys.

All of that work and missed a pretty obvious and bright one on November 21 over Canada.

Oops!

“BOULDER-SIZED ASTEROID WILL BURN UP IN EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE TONIGHT”

Just imagine what would happen if a Denver-sized asteroid plowed into our atmosphere.

-tod

http://maps.google.ca/maps?oe=UTF-8&hl=en&ll=21.063997,33.299561&spn=3.485296,5.603027&t=h&z=8

Very remote and near what looks like a disputed border no less.

Footage! Footage! Footage!

http://www.minorplanets.org/OLS/2008_TC3

Farewell to a small asteroid that became a big fireball
Earth Impactor 2008 TC3 en route to Northern Sudan
tracked by La Sagra Sky Survey, Spain

The above image is a small section from a much larger image, exposed
while asteroid 2008 TC3 entered Earth’ shadow about one hour before
expected atmospheric impact over northern Sudan. The image was made
with one of La Sagra Sky Survey’s (LSSS) 45-cm f/2.8 telescopes. It
is a six minute exposure tracked at siderial rate. Exposure start
time was 2008 Oct. 07, 01:45:23 UT. The section shows a field which
is half a degree wide, comparable to the size of the full moon. The
asteroid moved from west (right) to east (left). At start of exposure
it was at a distance of 29600 kilometers, approaching at a speed of
7.61 kilometers per second. The periodic light variation along the
early part of the trail indicates a fast rotation of the intruder
around its spin axis. Long before the exposure ended, the trail got
dimmer and completely invisible, confirming the predicted time of
entry into Earth’ shadow.

More images and information to come, as data reduction proceeds…

About LSSS: The La Sagra Sky Survey is a survey for asteroids and
comets, conducted at the Observatorio de La Sagra (OLS) in Andalusia,
Spain. It is operated by the Observatorio Astronomico de Mallorca
(OAM), Balearic Islands, Spain.

About the asteroid: 2008 TC3 was discovered on 2008 Oct. 6 by the Mt.
Lemmon Survey in Arizona.

http://weblogs.marylandweather.com/2008/10/predicted_meteor_may_have_been.html

Predicted meteor may have been sighted
A large meteor reportedly was sighted last night by a KLM airlines
pilot near the time and place predicted by astronomers hours earlier.
It was the first time astronomers have ever identified an Earth-bound
space rock and predicted its arrival.

Here’s the report, from an online rumor network for professional
pilots:

“The following potentially confirming report comes from Jacob Kuiper,
General Aviation meteorologist at the National Weather Service in the
Netherlands: “Half an hour before the predicted impact of asteroid
2008 TC3, I informed an official of Air-France-KLM at Amsterdam
airport about the possibility that crews of their airliners in the
vicinity of impact would have a chance to see a fireball. And it was
a success! I have received confirmation that a KLM airliner, roughly
750 nautical miles southwest of the predicted atmospheric impact
position, has observed a short flash just before the expected impact
time 0246 UTC. Because of the distance it was not a very large
phenomenon, but still a confirmation that some bright meteor has been
seen in the predicted direction.”

Another pilot reported the following:
“Yes, I saw it from over central Europe – a bigger brighter trail
than the usual shooting star, terminated by an explosion. All over in
about a second, but definitely an unusual event.”

I assume that if it missed or grazed that Catalina *might* pick it up again. But I have no idea the odds or how predictable its path might be. If I’d have to guess, I’d say largely predictable with a small chance of going off at a weird angle.

Of course, it looks pretty remote so it could take a while for someone to get to somewhere that they could upload a video. If the correct track was SW-NE someone in Khartoum might have caught it. I’d think out of 2M people there should be someone out at night with a camera.

Shame if it were missed.

Glad to know I wouldn’t have seen it anyway.

[blockquote]
Alain Maury, one of the best known asteroids and comets professionals, quoted a colleague in the Minor Planet Mailing List: “I would name this asteroid after Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Why? It is small, not particularly bright and will not leave any significant trace.”

“Moreover, the presidential candidate John McCain, whose deputy Palin is slated to become, will probably remember when the asteroid has been formed. These heavenly bodies formed in the early days of the solar system and are thus about four billion years old.”
[/blockquote]

http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/weltall/0,1518,582593,00.html